1. Manipulation of blots: brightness and contrast adjustments.
Manipulation of blots: brightness and contrast adjustments. (A) Adjusting the intensity of a single band (arrow). B) Adjustments of contrast. Images 1, 2, and 3 show sequentially more severe adjustments of contrast. Although the adjustment from 1 to 2 is acceptable because it does not obscure any of the bands, the adjustment from 2 to 3 is unacceptable because several bands are eliminated. Cutting out a strip of a blot with the contrast adjusted provides the false impression of a very clean result (image 4 was derived from a heavily adjusted version of the left lane of image 1). For a more detailed discussion of “gel slicing and dicing,” see Nature Cell Biology editorial (2).
Mike Rossner, and Kenneth M. Yamada J Cell Biol 2004;166:11-15
© 2004 Rockefeller University Press